Plantago maritima

Alkali plantain

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Alkali plantain is a California native perennial found in coastal bioregions including northern Coast, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay, and northern Channel Islands in coastal bluffs and wet, saline places at elevations below 150 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers in narrow cylindric spikes 2 to 10 centimeters long. Growing with a stout caudex and long, thick taproot, it forms dense clumps with erect stems. Its distinctive leaves are 3 to 15 centimeters long, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, gradually tapering to the base and sometimes sparsely toothed. The plant produces 2 to 3 small seeds, each approximately 2 millimeters long.

Habitat: Coastal bluffs, wet, saline places

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 150 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SnFrB, n ChI

California counties: Humboldt, Marin, San Mateo, Mendocino, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Del Norte, Alameda, Orange

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.